Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in Varian Medical Systems, Inc. (NYSE:VAR) by 144.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 715,358 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 422,951 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group owned about 0.78% of Varian Medical Systems worth $80,070,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VAR. OppenheimerFunds Inc. increased its stake in Varian Medical Systems by 87.9% during the 2nd quarter. OppenheimerFunds Inc. now owns 4,456 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $507,000 after buying an additional 2,085 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Varian Medical Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $292,000. Calamos Advisors LLC increased its stake in Varian Medical Systems by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 48,236 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $5,399,000 after buying an additional 3,043 shares during the period. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Varian Medical Systems by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC now owns 48,918 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $5,563,000 after buying an additional 1,548 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA increased its stake in Varian Medical Systems by 81.0% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 64,102 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $7,290,000 after buying an additional 28,680 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Varian Medical Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 12th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Varian Medical Systems from $127.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Varian Medical Systems from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $115.00 price target on shares of Varian Medical Systems and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Varian Medical Systems in a report on Friday, October 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $119.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. The company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.25.

In other news, SVP Gary E. Bischoping, Jr. sold 845 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.24, for a total value of $101,602.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,240. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Magnus Momsen sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.68, for a total transaction of $312,704.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,423 shares of company stock valued at $2,278,268. 0.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Shares of Varian Medical Systems stock opened at $115.58 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $10.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.15, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.64. Varian Medical Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $101.42 and a one year high of $130.29.

Varian Medical Systems (NYSE:VAR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 23rd. The medical equipment provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $801.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $766.26 million. Varian Medical Systems had a return on equity of 27.54% and a net margin of 5.14%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Varian Medical Systems, Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

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